The Bronx’ Meals on Wheels program underwent a huge shakeup this year that altered the service for homebound seniors which had operated, basically untouched, since the 1970s. The process of implementing the controversial pilot pitted Bronx Democratic regulars and the city against advocates and other officials in a nasty fight over a program many would consider politically untouchable.

Service providers began last year with a protest of the request for proposals (RFP), which consolidated the Bronx’ 17 contracts into two and shifted at least 40 percent of seniors to weekly delivery of frozen meals instead of the daily, hot food service. The city Department for the Aging (DFTA) postponed the issuing of an RFP for new vendors until July. But the pilot, called Senior Options, rolled out as planned in October.

Things got off to a rocky start when many seniors failed to receive their meals until very late in the evening, if at all. Most of these kinks were worked out in the first week, according to DFTA, and complaints are now down.

In the months before the RFP was issued, Bronx Democratic regulars were repeatedly attacked by other officials and advocates for their dogged support of the pilot. The situation came to a boil in March when politicians blasted the city for allegedly steering the contracts to non-union agencies, and the Norwood News revealed connections between the machine and a politically-connected Bronx agency which received two of the contracts. RAIN, the current local provider, denied the allegations, as did the city.

“I actually find it quite offensive that some elected officials have made an issue out of that [the contracts],” DFTA Commissioner Edward Mendez-Santiago told the Norwood News last October. “I am proud to say that we have one of the better procurement processes in the city.”

Critics were further incensed when the pilot debuted with another twist. Instead of freshly preparing the requested hot meals, the vendors were just reheating the frozen meals. Some seniors have complained that the reheating makes the food watery and unappetizing.

Protest over Senior Options has calmed in the face of DFTA’s adamant refusal to reverse it. But Council Member Oliver Koppell, one of the lead opponents, introduced a bill last month to require that vendors deliver fresh meals to seniors who request them.

“My office, as well as those of other elected officials and senior centers, has been inundated with complaints about the quality of the food,” said Koppell in a statement.

“In many cases, they [seniors] said the food was so inedible they threw most of it out.”

The pilot will run for a year with an option of renewal in the Bronx. If it passes an assessment, the program would expand to the rest of the city.

If that happens, the city could be in for an even bigger fight. Many providers from Brooklyn and Queens surveyed by the Norwood News said they are opposed to Senior Options.